Pakistan’s post-independence political history has been an assortment of miscalculations that has pushed the country into the present quagmire, said foreign policy experts at the inaugural session of a two-day workshop on ‘Foreign policy making process’ organised by the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi (KU) in collaboration with The Hans Seidel Foundation at the Goethe Institut on Monday. Shamshad Ahmad, the former Foreign Secretary, in his keynote address said that the foreign policy of a country mirrors its national interests and should, thus, be formulated in a way that aids its domestic policies as well as the political situation. He recalled the follies that have dotted the country’s foreign policies which include “costly wars and perennial tensions with India, loss of half the country, territorial setbacks, political break-downs, military takeovers, economic stagnation, social malaise, social chaos and disintegration and a culture of violence and extremism.”

Ahmad also pointed out that the post-9/11 scenario marked Pakistan as the “frontline on the war on terror” — a distinction that was hardly enviable. “For a country as domestically unstable as ours, there can’t be many choices. In today’s world, our options are limited. In the ultimate analysis, our problems are not external but domestic. Putting our house in order is our priority,” he elaborated.

Mehdi Masud, the former Pakistan ambassador explained that the foreign policy here is centered on ‘we and they’, ‘we’ being Pakistan and ‘they’, the whole world. He criticised the ‘sensitivity’ of great Pakistanis — those who are at the helm of Pakistan but owing to their foolish actions, brought the country on the verge of extinction. He gave the example of Operation Gibraltar – a failed plan by Pakistan to infiltrate the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region in North-West India and start a rebellion against Indian control. “It is astonishing that the Pakistani leadership thought that India will not retaliate and cross the international border,” he said.

Masud reminded the audience that democracy is the “shared understanding of limits” but unfortunately, the doctrine is seldom practised. The other evil eroding the country’s political and social set-up is the “discontinuity due to change.”

Earlier, Dr Moonis Ahmer, Chairman of the Department of International Relations, and Richard Asbeck, representative of Hanns Seidel Foundation also addressed the inaugural session of the workshop. The workshop will continue today as well.